


The Planet Too Small

by doctorcaslock



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: New Planets, Planets, my dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-22
Updated: 2014-01-22
Packaged: 2018-01-09 15:59:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1147893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorcaslock/pseuds/doctorcaslock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Clara yearns to travel to a planet that would take her breath away, the Doctor does not disappoint. They arrive to meet a peaceful race, but soon something goes terribly wrong, and not even the locals understand the cause.</p><p>This is another story that was inspired by a dream I had. This fic is mainly practice for description, so it might not be the best, but it is my first full (though short) Doctor Who fic so please let me know if I did a good job.</p><p>Thanks!</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Planet Too Small

“Take me somewhere beautiful.”

                The Doctor looked up from the controls. Clara was leaning on the bannister of the TARDIS, looking at him with a smile. He raised an eyebrow. “You want to go somewhere beautiful. Well, beauty holds a number of definitions.”

                Clara shrugged. She pushed herself off of the bannister and walked towards him. “Take me somewhere one would create in a dream. A place that would take my breath away.”

                The Doctor’s smile turned into a grin. He rubbed his hands together in excitement. “I know just the place, Clara Oswald,” and without another word, he began to push buttons, pull levers, run around the TARDIS like a crazed hare. He pulled down a monitor and inspected it closely before hitting it repeatedly on the screen and pushing it back up above their heads. Clara followed him with amazement in her eyes, watched the Gallifreyan words turn above them and the lights flicker and blink while the TARDIS sang her wheezy song.

                Soon the ship fell silent and still once more, and Clara looked at the Doctor. He said nothing, but he lifted his arm, motioning to the door. She turned and ran towards the door, and only until she felt the presence of the Doctor behind her did she open the door.

                Sunlight flooded the TARDIS, and Clara had to shield her eyes. She stepped out onto soft green grass, and once her eyes adjusted, she lowered her hand. They were on what it appeared to be the edge of a cliff, looking over a deep canyon. Every surface she saw was covered in luscious green grass, and everywhere she looked were tall, magnificent mountains. Though the sky was clear, the mountains climbed high above the cloud level, and small villages hung onto the steep edges of the mountain sides. She looked to the left and to the right, and the valley seemed to stretch to infinity on either side. 

                “They look like mountains, but they’re actually hills.” The Doctor said from behind her, “I don’t know why, but the villagers here insist they are hills, so don’t say the word ‘mountain’,” 

                “It’s-” Clara started, watching a small flock of birds flying over the valley. She risked leaning over a bit to look below, to find a river snaking through the base of the hills. Even at the bottom, the sunlight lit it up. She saw small farmlands and more villages. She stepped back, “-It’s perfect.”

                “Excuse me?” The Doctor and Clara turned from the view and saw a man peak from behind the TARDIS. “Are you aliens?” The man looked human enough, but Clara noticed that he had thick claws on his hands and bare feet. She gave the Doctor a questionable look, but he seemed relaxed when he glanced at her. 

                “Yes, we are aliens but we are nice aliens. I am the Doctor and this is Clara.”

                “Oh,” The man said, quite thoughtfully, “I’m Tev. It’s a pleasure,” He held out one of his hands, and he laughed when he saw Clara’s hesitation. “Don’t worry miss, these claws are used for climbing. As you can see, we have very little flat ground. What you’re standing on now is a hand-dug path into the side of this hill.”

                At the mention of ‘hill’ the Doctor gave Clara a nudge of ‘I told you so’. Clara glared back at the Doctor and happily took Tev’s hand. “It’s a pleasure, Tev. I apologize for being uneasy.”

                After shaking the Doctor’s hand, Tev laughed again. “It is okay, your naked hands and covered feet are unusual to us. Follow me, I can show you around.” Clara looked at her own hands and feet, suddenly becoming self-conscious. The Doctor clapped his hand over her shoulder and together they followed Tev.

                “Since it seems as though you are new here, let me give you the basics. Welcome, to Clerbia. The planet too small with too much land. The entire world is made of the same steep, hilly terrain, with the very occasional valley, as you can see to your left.” They continued to walk on the hand-dug path, soon to arrive in a small village. Clara gazed with wonder as small huts dug into the hill looked out over the valley. Small trees grew between the path and the drop. Clara saw more of the people who lived here, all with thick claws and bare feet. Some of them were busy with household chores, climbing up the side of the hill and digging out new rooms for their small homes. As they walked, they approached a large cavern within the hill. It had a high ceiling within with a rocky staircase that climbed even higher.

“We are in one of the larger cities, called Clembe.” Tev was saying. “As you can see the cavern is high and deep into the hill, so we need to climb to most of the markets, and especially to the center of the town that is above us that looks out onto the other side of the hill. Would you like to see?”

Clara nodded her head, “I would love to.” She looked to the Doctor. He nodded enthusiastically, and they followed Tev to the staircase. The cavern was lit up with torches in the darkest corners, and people were moving past them with purpose. They reached the staircase and began to ascend. Clara followed their path and saw, at the highest point of the cavern, a small beacon of light that led to the other side of the hill. The staircase was narrow, and had no barrier that would prevent them from falling onto the cavern below, so Clara held tight to the Doctor’s arm. 

“Just wait,” the Doctor said into Clara’s ear, The Town Center is the best part.”

Clara kept close to the wall, yet as they climbed, she would occasionally look down below. The small people of Clembe became smaller. The air around them grew thicker and hotter, but the blinding doorway was growing closer with each step. Once they finally reached the doorway, Clara’s eyes had to adjust once more. From behind her hand, she could hear the strong sound of a waterfall, and the smell of fresh water filled her head. 

She opened her eyes and she dropped her arm from the Doctor’s.

The Town Square was under an overhang of the mountain. From the center of the rock ceiling, 100ft high, fell a pillar of water, into a large pond in the center of the ground. The pond formed several streams that flowed off of the cliff that looked over more magnificent hills. Saying nothing, Clara walked forward, exploring the Square. Benches made of solid wood circled the central pond. Small bridges arched over the streams and flower beads lined the paths. The sun was on the other side of the hill, so there was no direct sunlight, but natural light was all that was needed.

“Well Clara?” The Doctor said, “Has your breath been taken?”

Clara stood on one of the bridges, looking at the waterfall in the center. “Huh,” was all she managed today, but the smile on her face told the Doctor and Tev that it was.

“I am so hapy you love it here,” Tev said, “How about we find some lun-“

Tev was interrupted by a thunderous sound. It was short lived, but the echos danced off the hill sides for a good few seconds. “What was that?” Clara asked.

“I,” Tev stared, the three of them looked out over the cliffs. A small crowd formed from the other locals who were enjoying their day. “I don’t know.”

They continued to look out, but there was nothing. Some locals began to turn back from the cliff to resume their day when a much louder crash was heard. This time the ground suddenly shook, and shocked screaming could be heard.

“Doctor?” Clara asked, trying to keep her balance on the bridge. He grabbed hold of the Doctor, who almost fell into the water.

“Tev, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know! The skies are clear, so there’s no thunder.” Tev’s, along with everyone else’s, panicked look told the Doctor that this was something that has never happened before. Another rumble began, and the ground began to shake once more. A scream from one of the locals brought Clra and the Doctor’s attention out over the cliff.

A large chuck of earth from the bottom of a neighboring hill suddenly rose from the ground. A small village was ripped in half; people were screaming in terror as the earth rose, while the other half lay destroyed on the ground. I began to fly across the valley, and crashed into the side of another hill. The locals surrounding the Doctor and Clara fell into Terror, crowding towards the entrance to the Town below. Tev just stood speechless, all blood drained from his face and his hands in his short dark hair. 

“Oh my,” he uttered. Clara had tears forming in her eyes and her hands covering her mouth. The Doctor was still. “Oh-Oh my, what’s- I d-don’t understand. How? I am sorry friends, I need-“

“TEV!” The Doctor suddenly yelled, turning towards the local. He grabbed both of his shoulders and looked him in the eye. In the distance they can hear more mounds of earth being raised and dropped. Crying and screaming began to join. “Tev, listen, you must think. Why are these not Mountains?”

Clara and Tev seemed to come back to reality in response to the Doctor’s question. “Is now really the time to be asking that? People are dying Doctor!” Tev yelled. He pushed away. “I am going to find my family.”

“No, no Tev! Hold on!” The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and towards the very edge of the cliff. The ground began to shake again as more earth is slammed into the hill right across from the one they were standing upon.

“Doctor be careful!” Clara yelled. Tev stood next to her watching the Time Lord waving the screwdriver over the cliff. He then pointed it downward before extending it and reading something off of it.

“Ah-HA!” He ran from the edges and stumbled into a shallow stream as the ground shook once more. “They are hills because this planet is too small. Much, much too small!”

He waited for a response, but getting nothing but confused expressions, he continued, “These are supposed to be mountains; they are way too large to be considered hills, but look at them! There’s not a rugged edge or peak anywhere! They are, quite literally, piled of dirt! This planet is alive, and it’s growing!”

“What?”

“Why is it killing people?”

“It’s not- or, I mean it doesn’t even know you guys are here. As the planet grows, it must relocate earth onto areas that are just becoming exposed. This hasn’t happened in millennia, that is why you and your civilization have never hear of this happening. It seems the land is being relocated at random locations…”

The Doctor dropped to the ground then, pulling his sonic out once more. On his knees, he adjusted the sonic, making its noise vary in frequency. Clara winced at the higher pitched noises. “Dare I ask what you’re doing, Doctor?”

“I am trying,” he waved the sonic at the ground, “To communicate.”

He stood up once more and held his arms out. “HELLO PLANET!”

The echoes of the last crashes faded, and now only the sound of the cries of the locals could be heard.

“I don’t know if you know this, actually I am pretty sure that you don’t know, but, you have living organism living on you! Quite a lot!”

He paused. There was no response, but the earth did not continue to move. /the Doctor saw this as a good sign. “Listen, I understand you are growing and need to do a little renovation, but you are killing innocent people. They have made village and lives on your beautiful hills. Is there any way we can make a compromise?”

Again there was no response.

“Please?”

The ground was still, and Clara began to feel uneasy, “Doctor..?”

“Shh!” he said suddenly, and the ground began to shake again. This time it was violent, and the water from the waterfall splashed outside of the pond, pouring over Clara, the Doctor, and Tev.

                They held onto each other, “What did you do!?” Tev yelled, but the Doctor began to laugh with excitement. 

                “Oh, that’s BRILLIANT!” He yelled.

“What’s brilliant?” Clara yelled, hanging onto the Doctor’s arm and flinching in pain as Tev’s claws dug into her arm. They could feel the ground they were standing on rise into the air, an as they rose, Clara’s heart dropped. ‘We’re going to die,” she muttered to herself.”

Out over the cliff, dozens of hills began to rise into the air. She could also see some flat land from the valleys rise as well. Then she saw that they all had in common.

“He rising up all of the towns, all of the villages, all of the stranded huts and barns!” The Doctor was yelling, but as the hill slowed to a stop miles in the air, he lowered his voice, “We are all going to hang out while your planet fills his holes.” 

                The three of them looked out once more. Below them, earth continued to fly miles before crashing into hills, valley, and rivers. 

                “This will still be a tragedy. People have died already. Villages destroyed,” Tev began. He fell silent, as did everyone around them, and watched the planet grow.

                “A tragedy, yes. A horrible tragedy,” The doctor said sitting on the bridge and letting his long legs hang over the settling stream. He shook some of the water out of his hair. “But this will be remembered. Now that the planet continues to grow, this may happen more frequently. Incidences like this is how your race learns and grows. Maybe this can be turned into a celebration. A worldwide celebration-“

                “Both for remembering the lost and to celebrate the possibility of new lands,” Clara said. She joined the Doctor on the bridge. 

                Tev looked out the other villages that were floating in the air. “New villages and towns. It gives us the chance to expand.” He said nothing else, but he looked at Clara and the Doctor, with a smile on his face and a tear in his eye.

-x-

                Clara ran to the door before the TARDIS came to a stop.

                “Clara! Try not to leave the TARDIS mid-flight, you don’t want to experience the time vortex first hand. I had a friend who did that once, he was lucky he was immortal.” He reached Clara, who was eagerly waiting for him with her hand on the door. 

                “Doctor, you do know you have odd friends.” She told him.

                “Lucky for you you’re one of them- now what are you waiting for? We have a party to go to, come on, come on,” He pushed her aside and opened the door. They walked into a crown of people, the air filled with music and smells of wonderful food that made Clara’s mouth salivate. Lanterns hung from the hillside and from above in the cavern.

                “Doctor!” a voce from behind them yelled.

                The Doctor turned and saw one of the Clerbians hobble towards them. “I got your letter, Doctor. My great grandfather left so many records of you and Clara, and how you saved all of us.”

                “Please tell me, Yelm, what he have in store for us tonight.”

                “Celebration, Doctor, just that! However, as the land rises, we remain silent, in memory of the fallen. We have this celebration every 25 years, and despite the communication with the planet and the committee, there are still deaths every year.”

                Clara looked down, sending out a silent prayer. “As we all have time to mourn, there is still time to celebrate,” The Doctor said, grabbing Clara’s hand, “Let’s go celebrate."


End file.
